Section 6.1 · Worked examples · 5 of 5

Worked example 6.1.5: Police radar gun

Interactive: Doppler Effect and Radar
About the worked examples of Section 6.1

Five short calculations tied to the applications. They use only , , the polarisation vectors, Malus' law and the two-way Doppler shift, and no new physics. Numerical constants: , . The polarisation match of a wave and an antenna, with unit polarisation vectors written for the same , is , with for RHCP and LHCP along . A good way to use them: read the given quantities, produce the formula from the corresponding application or problem yourself, and only then put the numbers in.

Worked example 6.1.5

Police radar gun

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Given. A K-band CW radar gun, . A car approaches at , and the beam makes the angle with the car's motion.

Find. (a) for , (b) the shift per km/h, (c) the speed displayed for and , (d) the echo frequency of a car moving away at the same speed.

Adapted from: D. K. Cheng, Field and Wave Electromagnetics, 2nd ed., Problem P.8-3.

Try it yourself first.

cf. Application 6.1.5

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